����vlog

DOGS. MOVING FORWARD. KETCHUP IS HIS NAME. A FIVE YEAR OLD GRAND CHAMPION BOXER. HE NEARLY DIED EARLY FROM A UNIQUE FORM OF VENTRICULAR ARRHYTHMIA FOUND IN BOXERS RUNNING THE FENCE LINE HERE BEHIND ME. HE WOULD COLLAPSE. HE COLLAPSED TWICE. TAMARA HOPKINS SAYS TWO OF KETCHUP’S LITTERMATES ALREADY DIED FROM HEART DISEASE WHEN THEY WERE ONLY THREE AND A HALF YEARS OLD. SO SHE WAS LED TO PURDUE UNIVERSITY TO SEE VETERINARY CARDIOLOGIST DOCTOR LUIS DOS SANTOS. THEY DISCOVERED THAT KETCHUP’S UNIQUE FORM OF ARRHYTHMIA WAS FOUND BOTH IN BOXERS AND HUMANS. HE HAD A VERY UNIQUE COMPONENT OF HIS DISEASE THAT WAS VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT THEY SEE IN PEOPLE, AND WE COMMONLY DON’T SEE IN DOGS. SANTOS FORMED THE TEAM OF CARDIOLOGISTS FOR BOTH ANIMALS AND HUMANS TO CONDUCT A HEART PROCEDURE ON KETCHUP, A FIRST OF ITS KIND. AFTER THREE YEARS OF RESEARCH, THEY DID A CT SCAN OF HIS HEART. AND THEN THAT WAS 24 HOURS BEFORE SURGERY. THEY SENT IT OFF TO 4 OR 5 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, DIFFERENT CARDIOLOGISTS TO GO OVER THE CT, SCAN THEMSELVES AND MAP OUT A BLUEPRINT FOR THE NEXT DAY TO OPERATE ON HIM. HE STUDIED THE ANATOMY OF HIS HEART, IDENTIFY BEFORE THE SURGERY WHERE THE ARRHYTHMIA WAS COMING FROM. SO WE HAD THE PRECISE GOAL AND TARGET FOR THE PROCEDURE. IT’S BEEN A MONTH SINCE THE SUCCESSFUL PROCEDURE. SANTOS SAYS IT WAS AN EYE OPENER FOR DOGS AND HUMANS WITH HEART DISEASE. WE EXPECT THAT THIS CAN BE A GAME CHANGER FOR BOXERS OR ANY OTHER DOG WITH VENTRICULAR ARRHYTHMIAS. IMPROVE THIS TECHNIQUE THAT WOULD BENEFIT ULTIMATELY NOT JUST MY PATIENTS THAT CANNOT CANINE PATIENTS, BUT ALSO HUMAN PATIENTS WITH SIMILAR DISEASE. EVERY TIME I THINK ABOUT DOCTOR DOS SANTOS, I CRY. I MEAN, HE SAVED MY BOY’S LIFE. KETCHUP’S OWNER SAYS SHE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR HIS HEART EVERY 90 DAYS. COVERING FAYETTE COUNTY.